VOLUME 49, ISSUE 60
THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2016
WWW.UCSDGUARDIAN.ORG
UCSD
LITERATURE
A&E SUMMER PREVIEW PHOTO COURTESY OF WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Occupants of Building Demand Relocation According to the petition, 16 people who worked in the facility were diagnosed with cancer between 1991 and 2008. BY kevin santos
senior
SUMMER IS UPON US, FRIENDS. JOIN YOUR ENTERTAINMENTSAVVY PEERS HERE AT THE GUARDIAN IN DISCUSSING THE “HOT” NEW MOVIES, TV AND MUSIC COMING OUT OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS. KN OUT. weekend, PAGE 6
YEAR IN REVIEW
A LOOK AT THE GUARDIAN'S BEST OPINION, Page 4
HISTORIC SEASON men's basketball 2015-2016 sprots, Page 12
FORECAST
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FRIDAY
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Photo courtesy of UC San Diego Publications, by Erik Jepsen
ACLU Files Lawsuit Against UCSD, A.S. Council By josh lefler The American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties filed a lawsuit against UCSD and A.S. Council yesterday over the student government’s decision to defund all printed media last November. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the satirical student newspaper The Koala and claims that A.S. Council “unconstitutionally eliminated funding for publication of student print media … because of the viewpoint of The Koala’s speech.” The formal complaint outlining the details of the lawsuit states that The Koala seeks to restore funding that A.S. Council allocates specifically for print media. The lawsuit lists UCSD Chancellor Pradeep Khosla, outgoing A.S. President Dominick Suvonnasupa and outgoing A.S. Financial Controller Tristan Britt as defendants representing UCSD and A.S. Council, respectively. A.S. Council voted to defund student media on Nov. 18 following a statement signed by Khosla and other UCSD administrators condemning The Koala for the “offensive and hurtful language it chooses to publish.” The lawsuit alleges that email exchanges between UCSD officials indicate this statement was prompted by a satirical piece published by The Koala two days earlier mocking the concept of “safe spaces.”
news editor
The lawsuit claims that, though A.S. Council defunded all print media as forms of student speech, it continued to support other forms of speech through the funding of organizations such as Students Against Mass Incarceration, College Democrats at UCSD and others. Legal director of ACLU San Diego David Loy said that the purpose of the lawsuit was to uphold the principles of the First Amendment, which he believes UCSD, as a public institution, violated. “However offensive and outrageous The Koala may be, its authors are writing about topical issues of public concern,” Loy said in a press release. “No matter how offended I may be, it is still much worse to give government the power to decide what speech to censor. Once granted, that power will inevitably stifle protest and dissent.” Representatives from The Koala spoke to the UCSD Guardian about the lawsuit and expressed the belief that the outcome would be in their favor. “The Koala is confident the outcome will go our way in this case,” The Koala said. “The announcement of a favorable decision will set a precedent for future student organizations not to be unlawfully silenced by the administration.”
See LAWSUIT, page 3
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CAMPUS
VERBATIM
A.S. Council Votes to Ban Plastic Water Bottles
BUT, SHOULD WE FIND WHAT STOKES THE FLAMES OF FERVENT INTEREST AND AMBITION WITHIN OURSELVES, THERE IS THE POTENTIAL CAPACITY WITHIN COMMUNITY TO BILLOW UP THOSE FLAMES.
The Measure Stems from Janet Napolitano’s Challenge to UC to become “zero waste” by 2020.
— VINCENT PHAM OUT FRESHMAN FAUX-PAS
WEEKEND, PAGE 10
INSIDE IN LOVING MEMORY ........ 2 CORRECTION .................. 3 BUS ETIQUETTE ............ 10 TACO FEST ................... 10 W. SOCCER ................... 11
By kriti sarin
A.S. Council passed a resolution to ban plastic water bottles on May 18. The resolution means that A.S. supports the restriction of the sale of plastic water bottles in on-campus locations and proposes the installation of new hydration stations as well as increased access to disposable boxed water in order to support the university’s aim to be more sustainable. The plastic water bottle ban campaign grew out of the desire to hold the university accountable for the UC Office of the President’s promise to have all UC campuses be “zero waste” by 2020. It also aims to address the environmental, health and human rights issues that plastic water bottles create.
A.S. Associate Vice President of Environmental Justice Affairs Moon Pankam explained the importance of focusing on the plastic water bottle in the larger context of our campus’s sustainability while recognizing the needs for disposable water containers. “One manner in which we can achieve these goals [of being waste free] is to phase out the sale of plastic water bottles,” Moon told the UCSD Guardian. “The production and sale of plastic water bottles is a practice that contributes to the production of plastic waste and carbon dioxide emissions — by participating in a culture of reusable water bottle and hydration station usage...UCSD students, staff, and faculty can reduce negative environmental impacts in a manner that is also cost effective. There is, however, within this
resolution, a provision that ASUCSD also recognizes that visitors to this campus may have a need to access disposable boxed water, which is more environmentally friendly than plastic water bottles.” SSC Project Director for the Water Bottle Ban David Liao described his experience spearheading the campaign as one of collaboration and cooperation. “One of the important strategies for campaigning is coalition building….collaboration is a key element to a successful campaign,” Liao said. “[Organizations like] Aquaholics Anonymous, under the EH&S, have focused their efforts on water conservation...when we found out that our campaign goals aligned, we reached out to them See BOTTLES, page 3
Graduate students from the Literature Department released a petition last week calling for the immediate relocation of the Literature Building’s occupants due to the uncommonly high number of cancer diagnoses among the facility’s faculty and graduate students. Between 1991 and 2008, 16 occupants of the Literature Building were diagnosed with a form of cancer, nine of which were breast cancer cases. In response, UCSD conducted an in-depth review of the facility in 2008 and addressed potential hazard areas, particularly those involving electromagnetic fields and mold. Even though 2011 studies concluded that the Literature Building’s air quality and chemical levels were safe, Yingjin Zhang, the literature department chair, explained that recent cancer diagnoses have reignited fear and discomfort for those working in the facility. “New cases of cancer have been diagnosed since 2011 when the building was retrofitted with A/C and tested normal for air quality and other chemical levels,” Zhang said. “Many building users, especially graduate students, now feel uncomfortable or even unsafe inside the building. And some are quite emotional given the previous cases.” The petition aims to compel UCSD administration to release public information on the occupants’ potential move to a new facility, address what will happen to the current Literature Building, conduct another test for carcinogens, hold a public meeting for all those housed in the building to discuss the issue and add cancer cluster information to safety training materials. Current members of the Literature Department, literature department alumni and allies from other university departments have signed the petition. Within the petition, graduate students described how working in the possible cancer cluster has affected them. “Many of us continue to feel the very real psychological effects left behind by the cancer cluster, and these immeasurable mental and emotional fallout, as well as the still unknown physical effects, cannot be brushed aside,” the students said in See LITERATURE, page 3